Artist's Statement 2013-2014
Alan Pierce.
Artist’s Statement. (2014).
Reflecting upon my previous art practise, I began to consider how my painting processes contained a physical element and this manifested with the process of layering materials which would then be followed with the removal of sections of the surface to reveal areas that were once hidden beneath the surface. This suggested to me, not only a historical reference which pointed to the creation of an individual artwork but also seemingly measured the interaction of the use of manual labour and imagination with the building of each work. The result seemingly displayed a form of auto- biographical interplay, which connected relationship of the painting, my painting skills and the timescale that the work took to make. This would be demonstrated physically with the uncovering of the various previous layers.
The awareness of stripping away unwanted surfaces of paint and other materials would somehow became linked to concepts of self-analysis where, it could be said, that a ‘subject’ would find understanding through a time-honoured practice of ‘unwrapping’ and digging to unearth secrets which enabled the discovery and recognition of certain features about itself. This has somehow manifested in the actual physical endeavours of unearthing the different strata and placing significance in the direction where I could focus the work to explore personal memories and topics that had somehow not been at the forefront of my artistic practise before.
Now I am discovering that the impetus of the work is to explore my own needs and desires that are inexplicitly tied to my sexual identity and feelings of difference.
Using the activity to scrape, rip and tear away layered images that somehow portray assumed established male roles and interests that as a gay young man I would attempt bury my ‘true’ self beneath. This unveiling seems strangely liberating and brings into question the need of exposing personal truths from under a variety of ‘wrapping paper’ that is presented in plain sight to the ‘world’ but in actuality is a smokescreen, a false picture and to physicality strip away the surface layers appears to be linked to a representation married to a destructive conflict of uncovering a ‘whole’ portrait to yourself.
I have started to feature in the work an old school photograph of when I was around five years old. This is an attempt to imply a time of inexperience associated with the inability to conceive internal or external personal comparisons or discriminations. Running parallel with this picture is the act of repetition; the photograph is duplicated to cover an entire surface area. This is an attempt to illustrate my school days as a pictorial depiction of the struggle of a self-image which is starting an institutionalised journey of uniformity and conformity. Incorporating this school boy identity seems to possess the capacity to connect my past with the present day, joined with a distance that is symbolised with a long forgotten time of innocence which coexists with a tangible pursuit of discovery through the labour-intensive tearing, peeling and stripping away of veneers that could be considered by some as a generalised picture and narrative that argues the presumed expectations of behaviour and what a ‘man’ or masculinity should represent.